COMPARISON OF US MEDICINE WITH SOVIET MEDICINE/SOVIET MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2009
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: November 29, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

~CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATIQN
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Comparison of US Medicine with Soviet Medicine/
-Soviet Medical Publications
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
TICS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INPORMRTI{N R!![CTIM{ TOE NO TI OM AL Ot TER [[
O! TM[ UNITES STATEN, 01TNIN TN[ MEAN IN{01 TI TLE IN. 11111l": ,1'13
ANO 7~0. {! TIRE U.S. CORE. RE R..ND[O. ITS TRAM [MI {{ION OR R[V[?
LOTION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT {T AN UMAUTM0R1[[0 PERSON IS
PROMINITEO {V LAN. TOE REPRODUCTION C[ TOI{ FORM IS FRONI{ITEO.
DATE DISTR. /do / ,5,~!
NO. OF PAGES 13
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
US Medicine as Compared to Soviet Medicine
1. Soviet and US medicine are two quantities which are difficult to c ompare.
Soviet medicine has been developed along different lines than US medicine.
Even prior to the revolution of 19171the development of public medicine in
the USSR was widespread; however, it was administered by city, county or
local governmental units. After 1917, control of public health was
centralized under the Ministry of Health in Moscow. Soviet medicine lacks)
of course, private enterprise or initiative in some respects, which is
characteristic of US medicine. All medical projects in the USSR are
financed by public funds and must be approved by the Ministry of Health
in Moscow. In the US, there are large hospitals, medical research cen&ers,
clinics, etc, all financed, for the most part, by private funds which are
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL /SECURITY INFORMATION
A y DISTRIBUTION 14 r- C, [0-ST
1
25 YEAR
RE-REVIEW
Approved For Release 2009/07/16: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8
 Approved For Release 2009/07/16: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8
CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
constantly developing new medical techniques or discovering new cures. There 25X1
were many projects in the USSR which were abandoned because of lack of funds.
There are no Rockefeller foundations in the USSR to provide private funds for
medical research. There are many positive quantities in the Soviet medical
program, however. Soviet medicine serves all the population and is not restricted
to only those who are in a position to pay for medical services. Prior to
1936 all medical. services in the USSR were entirely free. After 1936, a small
fee was charged to each patient, but this was paid for by State health insurance.
The physician in the US devotes entirely too little time to the diagnosis of a
patient. He is more content to rel on X-rays, laboratory tests, etc, rather
than act as a diagnostician. a. physician in. the US 25X1
treats the disease rather than the diseased individual.
Medical Training
In the USSR, the standards of medical training were raised after
19351because the Communists realized that they must be more Selecti e
training of their x-hysicians than they had been prior to that time.
exce ent feature of the Soviet medical program is that they require each me r.a
student after his third year of training to spend his summers in State hospitals
and clinics to obtain additional experience. In the US this is not aequircd. A
US medical student does not enter a hospital until he has cpmpleted his medizsa:
school training. In the US, a total of six years is required to complete a
medical education whereas in the USSR a complete medical education can be obtained
in five years.
Medical Publications
There is a voluminous amount of medical Journals and brochures published the
USSR. The volume is so great that
there was a shortage of paper for t _ pr n ng or our. ns u e s pu.. ca';.a_on .
In order to understand the Soviet medical publication system it is necessary to
understand the medical organizational system within the USSR. The entire medical
program of the USSR is under the control and supervision of the, Medical Ministry
with headquarters in Moscow. Its headquarters is divided into six departments
which are:
(a) Healing Department
(b) Sanitation and Prophylsc.c Department
(c) Administrative Department
(d) Medical- Education Department
(e) Pharmaceutical Department
(f) Guardian of Mothers and Children Department
The Sanitary and. Propbrbd.ic Department is responsible for publishing and distributing
all brochures, pamphlets concerning the prevention, treatment and cure of all
illnesses including cancer, scarlet fever, heart disease, pneumonia, etc. Each
of the other five departments..also published various types of medical brochures
pertaining to their work. Directly under the Medical Ministry are the 16
Republics of the USSR, which have an identical medical organization such as
exists at Moscow. Directly under the 16 Republics is the Medical M.ini.str,r of
the individual county within the Republic which also has six departments to
administer the health program, and, of course, each published its own medical
CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
Approved For Release 2009/07/16: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8
 Approved For Release 2009/07/16: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8
CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
-3-
brochures In addition to the publications of the Medical Ministry at
Moscow and the Medical Ministry of the Republics and the counties , the
medical institutes, medical societies and medical publishing houses each
publi h their own medical Journals. There were many publications in the
USSR
(a) Publication of the Saratov Institute for the Study of Plague
"Professor Kulescha's Method of Culture of the Bacillus of
Leprosy - 1933"
(b) Publication of the Second All-Russian Congress of Pathology
"Pathology and Pathogensis of Endemic Goiter in the Karajaijev
Autonomous Area (North Caucasas)"
(c) Publication of the Kuban State Institute of Medicine (also known
as the Krasnodar Medical Institute)
"Cancer Threat and Registry of Tumors"
"Incidence of Tumors in the City of Krasnodar from 1920 - 1935"
"Research in Pathology of the Cardiovascular System and Adrenals
in Animals Subjected to Toxic Effects of Various Tobacco and
Tobacco Fumes"
"Classification of Thymomas"
"Illness and Death of Professor P P Avrorov - A Clinical and
Pathological Analysis"
(d.) Publication of the Third Krasnodar Clinic and Hospital
"Leprosy Research in the USSR"
"Development and Present Status of Pathology and Pathological
Anatomy in the Kuban Area (14+ years survey)"
"Contemporary Trends in the Teaching of Pathology"
(a) Publication of the Conference of Military Surgeons in the Krasnodar
"Histopathology of Frostbite - May 1942"
"Characteristic Features of the Pathology of Modern War Injuries -
May 19I2"?
CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
25X1
25X1
Approved For Release 2009/07/16: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200210007-8